Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s email problems just got off the scale worse

We are totally bored with the story of Hillary Clinton's email server and breaches of security protocol when she was Secretary of State, but we know our readers around the world are avid followers of our reports in the slow motion train wreck of Hillary's campaign (especially in Russia, wonder if that is anything to do with the alleged 20,000 hacked emails the Kremlin has and whether President Putin will release them just before the Democratic Party convention to plunge the American election process into chaos).

So are our final post for today (it's nine p.m. here even if it is only around noon in California) here's something from The Washington Post:

The report, which you can read in its entirety here, badly complicates Clinton's past explanations about the server and whether she complied fully with the laws in place governing electronic communication. And it virtually ensures that Clinton's email practices will be front and center in Donald Trump's fusillade of attacks against her credibility and honesty between now and Nov. 8.

The inspector general, in a long awaited review obtained Wednesday by The Washington Post in advance of its publication, found that Clinton’s use of private email for public business was “not an appropriate method” of preserving documents and that her practices failed to comply with department policies meant to ensure that federal record laws are followed.

The report says Clinton, who is the Democratic presidential front-runner, should have printed and saved her emails during her four years in office or surrendered her work-related correspondence immediately upon stepping down in February 2013. Instead, Clinton provided those records in December 2014, nearly two years after leaving office.

Clinton used an inappropriate method of preserving her documents. Her approach would not have been approved if it had been requested by a more junior member of the State Department staff. The report also suggests that despite a Clinton aide's insistence that the method of preserving her emails had been submitted to a legal review back in 2010, there is no evidence that such a review took place. And, here's the kicker: Clinton refused to sit for a formal interview.
Oomph. Double oomph. Heck, that might merit a triple oomph.

It's going to be an entertaining few weeks ahead for Clinton watchers, but will Bernie Sanders get the nomination or, as is widely rumoured, will Democratic Party managers kick democracy into touch and parachute in Joe Biden (possibly a worse candidate that Clinton in terms of electability)

RELATED POSTS:

State Dept. IG: Clinton violated rules with private server, did not cooperate with investigation

Prior to today the silence and secrecy around the FBI investigation of Clinton’s private server meant there was relatively little detailed information in the public domain. And that meant that Clinton and her team could say almost anything about the matter without fear of contradiction.

For instance, she could claim, as she did last March, “I fully complied with every rule that I was governed by.” She could claim (again from last March) that she set up the server because “I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for my personal emails instead of two.” She could claim, as she did two weeks ago, “I’m more than ready to talk to anybody, anytime.” And she could claim, as she did early on, that her private server was perfectly secure because it was guarded by the Secret Service. Well, Hillary can’t say any of those things after today. Read More:State Dept. IG: Clinton violated rules with private server, did not cooperate with investigation